No.  119. 

•  A|E  YOU  FORGIVEN  % . 

All  men  need  forgiveness,  because  all  men  are 
■sinners.  He  that  does  not  know  this*  knows  noth- 
ing in  religiqn.  It  is  the  very  A.  B  0  of  Chris- 
tianity, that  a  man  should  know  his  right  place, 
and  understand  his  deserts. 

"We  are  all  great  sinners.  Siuner3we  were  born,, 
.•and  sinners  fm  have  been  all  our  lives.  r  We  take 
to  sin  naturally  from  the  very  first.  No  child  ever 
need's  schooling  and  education  to  teach  it  to  do  wrong. 
No  devil  or  bad  companion  ever  leads  us  into  such 
'wickedness  as  our  own  hearts;  and  yet  the  wages 
of  sin  is  death.  We  must  either  be  forgiven,  o^ 
lost  eternally. 

Probably  the-e  pages  will  be  read  by  some  one 
who  feels  he  isjiot  yet  a  forgiven  souk  My  heart's- 
desire  and  prayer  is,  that  such  a  one  may  seek  his 
pardon  at  once.  And  I  would  fain'  help  him  for- 
ward by  showing  him  the  kind  of  forgiveness  offer- 
ed to  him,  and  the  glorious  privileges  within  his 
reach. 

Listen  to  me,  then,  while  I  try  to  exhibit  to  yoti 
the  treasures  of  gospel  forgiveness.  I  cannot  de- 
scribe its  fullness  as  I  ought.  Its  riches  are  indeed 
.unsearchable.  '  Eph.  i'ii.  8.  But  if  you  will  tjirn 
away  from  it,  you  shall  not  be  able  say  in  the  day 
of  judgment,  you  did  not  at  all  know  what  it  was.. 

Consider  then,  for  one  thing,  that  the  forgiveness 
get  before  you  is  a  .great  and-  broad  forgive,nes$.-^=- 

o  ■         '  . 

O 


Hear  what  the  Prince  of  Peace  himself  declares  : 
"All  sins  shall  be  forgiven' unto  the  sons  of  n^en, 
and  bl^isfhemies  wherewithsoever  they  '^glL  blas- 
pheme." Mark  iii.  28.  '•  Though  your  sins  be  as 
scarlet,  they  shall  be  as  white  as  snow;  though 
they  be  red  like  crimson,  they  shall  be  as  wool.'" — 
Isa.  i.  18.  .  Yef !  though  your  trespasses  be  more 
in  number  than  the  hairs  of  your  head,*the  stars  in 
heaven,  the  leaves  of  the  forest,  the  blades  of  grass, 
the  grains  of  sancl  on  the  sea-shore,  still  they  can 
all  be  pardoned.  As  the  waters  of  Noah's  flood 
covered  over  all  and  kid  .the  tops  of  the  highest 
hills,  so  can  the  blood  of  Jesus  cover  over  arid  hide 
your  mightiest  sins,  "His  blood  cleanseth  from 
all  sin."  1  John  i,  7.  Though  to  you  they  seem 
written  with  the  point  of  a  .diamond,  they  can  all 
be  effaced  from  the  book  of  God's  remembrance  by 
that  precious  blood.  Paul  names  a  long  .list  of 
abominations  which  the  Corinthians  had  committed, 
and  then  says,  "Such  weie  some  of  you;  but  ye 
•are  washed,  ye  are  sanctified,  but  ye  aie  justified, 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and*  by  the  Spirit 
of  our  God."     1'Cor.  vi.  11. 

Furthermore,  it  is  a  full  and  complete  forgiveness.. 
It  is  not  like  David's  pardon  to  Absalom, — a  per- 
mission to  retmrn  home,  but  not .  a  full  restoration 
to  favor:  2  Sam.  xi v.  24  It  is  not  a  mere  letting 
off,  and  letting  alone.  It  is  a  pardon  so  complete, 
that  h*e  who  lias  it  is  reckoned  as  righteous  as  if  he 
had  never  sinned  at  all.  Hi's  iniquities  are  blotted 
out.  They  are  removed  from  him  as  far  as  the  east 
is  from  the  west.    T?alm   ciii.  12.     There   remains. 


no  condemnation  for  him..  The  Father  gqy.him 
joined  to  Christ,,  and  is  well  pleased.  I  verily  be- 
lieve if  the  best  of  u,  all  had  only  one  blot  left  for 
himself  to  wipe  out,  he  would  miss  eternal  life..  If 
Noah,  Daniel,  and  Job  had  had  but  one  clay's  sins 
to  wash  away,  they  would  never  have  been  saved. 
Praised  be  to  Gotl,  that  in  the  matter  of  our  pardon 
there  is  nothing  left"  for.  man  to  do.  Jesus  does  all, 
and  man  has  only  to  hold  out  an  empty  hand,  and 
to  receive.  ^ 

Furthermore,  it  is  a  free  forgiveness.  It  is  not 
burdened  with  an  u  if,"  like  Salomon's  pardon  to 
Adonijfch,  "  If  lie  will  show  himself  a  worthy  man." 
1  King!  i.  52.  Nor  yet  are  you  obliged  tp  carry  a 
price  in  your  hand,  or  bring  a  character  with  you 
to  prove  yourself  deserving  of  mercy.  Jesus  re- 
quires but  one  character,  and  that  is^  that  you 
should  feel  yourself  a  sinful,  bad  man..  He  inv.ites 
you  to  "buy  wine  and  milk  without  money  an  I 
without  price;"  and  declares,,  "  Whosoever  will, 
let  him  take  the- water  of  life  freely."  Isaiah  lv.  1, 
Rev.  xxii.  17.  Like  David  in  the  cave  of  Adul- 
lam,  he  receives  "every  one  that  feels  in  distress 
and  a  debtor/'  and  rejects  none.  1  Sam.  xxii.  2» 
Are  you  a  sinner?  Do  you  want  a  Saviour  ? — 
Then  come  to  Jesus  just  as  you  are,  and  your  soul 
.shall  liv£. 

Again,  it  is  an  offered  forgiveness.  I  have  read 
of  earthly  kings  who  knew  not  how  to  show  mer- 
■cy,< — of  Henry  tli'j  Eighth  of  Eifgland,  who  spared 
■neither  man  nor  woman — of  James  the  Fifth  of 
Scotland,  who  would  never  show  favor  to  a  Douglas. 


A  .       -.      •    ;     . 

'  The^ang  of  kings  is  not  like  them.     He  calls  on 
man  to  come  to  him  and  be  pardoned.     "  Unto  you, 
"O  men,  I   call;    and   my  voice    is  to   the    sons   of 
men."-    Prov.  viii.  4.-   "Ho,  every  one  that  thirst- 
eth,  come   ye  to  the  waters."     Isaiah  lv.  1.     "If    '  - 
•any  man  thirst,  let  "him  come  unto,  me  and   drink." 
John  vii.  37.     "Come  unto  me,  all  ye   that  labor   ", 
;and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest." — 
^Matt.  xi.  28.     0  reader,  it  ought  to  be  a  grear.com-    ' 
fcrt  to  you  and  me  to  hear  of  any  pardon    at- all; 
but  to  hear  Jesus  himself  inviting  us,  to  see  Jesus 
himself  holding  out   his  hand   to   us, — the  Saviour 
seeking  the  sinner  before  the  sinner  seeks^t'he  Sa- 
viour,— this  is  strong  consolation  indeed.  * 

Again,  it  is  a  willing  forgiveness^.     I  have  heard 
of  pardons  granted  in   reply  to  long  entreaty,  and    '  - 
wrung  out    by  much    importunity.     King  Edward 
the  Third  of  England  would  not  spare  the  citizens 
of  Calais  tdl  they  came  to  him  with  halters  rouncT 
their  necks,  and  his  own  queen  interceded  for  them 
mi  her  knees.     But  Jesus  is   "geodand  ready  to    O^ 
forgive."     Psalm  lxxxvi,  5.     "He    delightest    in  j^p  Jj 
mercy."     Mioah  vii.  18.     Judgment  is  his  strange  •-'"^ 
work.     'He  is  not  willing  that  any  should  perish.' 
2  Peter  iii.  9.     He  would  fain  have  all  men  saved, 
and  come  te  the  knowledge  of  the  truth.     X  Tim, 
\\.  |.     He  Tvept  over  unbelieving  Jerusalem.     'As 
I  live,'  lie  says,  '  I  have  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of 
the    wicked.     Turn    ye,  turn   ye    from    your   evil 
•yypys;- why.will  ye  die?'     Ezek.  xxxiii,  11.  Ah  I 
reader,  you.  and   \  may  well   come,  boldly  to  the 
throne   of  grace.     He  who  sits  thero   is  far  niore 


Willing  and  ready  to  give  meroy  tharf  you  and  I  are 
to  receive  it. 

Besides  this,  it  is  a  tried  forgiveness.  Thousands 
and  ten  of  thousands  have  sought  for-pardon  at  the 
mercy  seat  of  Christ,  and  not  one  has  ever  return- 
ed to  say  that  he  sought  in  vaiu.  Sinners  of  every 
name  and  nation, — sinners  of  every  sort  and  descrip- 
tion, have  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  fold,  and  none 
have  ever  been  refused  admission.  Zaccheus,  the 
extortioner,  Saul,  the  persecutor,  Peter,  the  denier 
of  his  Lord,  the  Jews"  who  crucified  the  Prince  of 
life,  the  idolatrous  Athenians,  the  adulterous  Cor- 
inthians, the  ignorant  Africans,  the  bloodthirsty 
New-Zealanders, — all  have  ventured  their  souls  on 
Christ's  pronises  of  pardon,  and  none  have  ever 
found  them  fail.  Ah !  reader,  if  the  way  I  set  be- 
fore you  were  a  new  and  untravelled  way,  you 
might  well  feel  faint-hearted.  But  it  is  not  so.  It 
is  an  old  path.  It  is  a  path  worn  by  the  feet  of 
many  pilgrims,  and  a  path  in  whisk  the  footsteps 
are  all  one  way.  The  .treasury  of  Chr*3t's  mercies 
has  never  been  found  empty.  The  well  of  living 
waters  has  never  proved  dry. 

Besides  this,  it  is  a  present  forgiveness.  All  that 
believe  in  Jesus  are  at  once  justified  from  all  things. 
Acts  xiii,  39.  The  very  day  the  younger  son  re- 
turned to  his  father's  house,  he  was  clothed  with 
(the  best  robe,  had  the  ring  put  Upon  his  hand,  and 
the  sboe$  on  his  feet.  Luke  xv.  The  very  day 
Zaccheus  received  Jesus,  he  heard  those  comforta* 
ble  words,  'This  day  is  salvation  come  to  this 
liQuse.'     Luke  xix,  9.     The  very  day  that  David 


6 

said,  'I  have  Sinned  against  the  .Lord,'  he  was' told 
by  Nathan,  -'The  Lord  also  hath  put  away  thy  sin.' 
2  Sam.  xii,  13.  The.  very  day  yon  first  flee  to 
Christ,  your  sms  are  all  removed.  Your  pardon 
is  not  a  thing  far  away,  to  be  obtained  only  by 
hard  work,  an  1  after  many  years.  It -is.  nigh  at 
hand.  It  is'  close  to  you,  within  your  re&#h,  all 
ready  to  be  bestowed.  -  BeHevej  and  that- very  mo- 
ment it  is  your  own..  '  He  that  beheveth  is  not 
condeujjL3d.'' .  John  iii,  18.  It  is  not  said,-  He 
.shall  not  be,  or  will  not  be,  but  is  not.  From  the 
time  of  his  believing,  condemnation  is  gone.  He 
that  believeth  hath  everlasting  life.  John  iii,"  36. 
I-t  is-mot  said,  Ho  shall  have,  or  will  have:  it  is 
hath.  It  is  his  own  as  surely  as  if  he  were  in 
heaven,  though  not  so  evidently  so  to  his  own  eyes. 
■Ah!  reader,  you  must  not  think  forgiveness  will 
be  nearer  to  a  believer  in  the  day  of  judgment  than 
it  was  in  the  hour  he  first  believed.  His  complete 
salvation  is  every  year  nearer  and  nearer  to 
him ;  but  as  to  his  forgiveness  and  justification,  it 
is  a  finished  work  from  the  very  minute  he  first 
commits  himself  to  Christ. 

Reader,  I  ha've  set  before  you  the  nature  of  the 
forgiveness  offered  to  you,  I  have  told  you  but 
little  of"  it,  for  my  words  are  weaker  than  my  will. 
The  half  of  it  remains  untold.  The  greatness  of  it 
is  far  more  than  any  reporc  of  mine.  But  I  think 
I  have  .paid  enough  to  show  you  it  is  worth  the 
seeking,  and  I  can  wish  you  nothing  better  than 
that  you  strive  to  make  it  vour  own..  ■ 
"Do  you  call  it  nothing  lo  look  forward  to -death 


without  fear,  and  to  judgment  without  'doubting*, 
and  to  eternity  without  a  sinking  of  heart?  Do 
you  call  it  nothing  to  feel  the  world  slipping  from 
your  grasp,  and  to  see  tlie  grave  getting  ready  for 
you,  and  the  valley  and  the  shadow  of  death  open- 
ing before  your  eyes  and  yot  not  he  afraid  ?  Do  you 
call  it  nothing  to  be  able  1o  think  of  the  great  day  of 
account,  the  throne,  the  books,  the  Judge,  the  assem-' 
bled  worlds,  the  revealing  of  secrets,  the  final  sen- 
tence, and  yet  to  feel,  I  am  safe?  This  is  the 
portion,  and   this  the  privilege,  of  a   forgiven  soul. 

Such  a  one  is  on  a  rocJc  When  the  rain  of  Grod's 
•wrath  descends,  and  the  floods,  come,  and  thewinda 
blow,  his  feet. shall  not  slide, — his  habitation  shall 
be  sure* 

Such  a  one  is  in  ;  an  >arlc.  When  the  last  fiery 
deluge  is  sweeping  over  all  things  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  it  shall  not  come  nigh  him.  He  shall  be 
caught  up  and  borne  securely  abo've  it  all. 

S.ich  a  one  is  -in  a  hiding  place.  When  God 
arises  to  judge  terribly  the  earth,  and  men  are  call- 
ing to  rocks* and  mountains  to  fall  upon  them  and 
cover  them,  the  everlasting  arms  shall  be  thrown 
around  him,  and  the,  storms  shall  pass  over  his 
head.  He  shall  abide  under .  the  shadow  of  the 
Almighty. 

Such  a  one  is  in  a  city  of  refuge.  The  accuser 
of  the  brethren  can  lay  no  charge  against  him. — 
The  law  cannot  condemn  him.  There  is  a  wall  be- 
tween him  and  the  avenger  of  blood.  The  ene- 
tnies  of  his  soul  cannot  hurt. him.  He  is  in  a  secure 
sanctuary.  *  ■. 


8. 

Such  a  one  is  rich.  He  has  treasure  in  heaven 
which  cannot  be  effected  by  worldly  changes,  com- 
pared to  which  Peru  and  California  are  nothing  at 
all.  He  needs  not  envy  the  richest  merchants  and! 
bankers.  He  has  a  portion  that  will  endure  when 
bank-notes  and  dollars  are  worthless  things.  He- 
can  say,  like  the  Spanish  embassador,  when  shown 
the  treasury  at  Venice,\  My  master's  treasury  has- 
no  bottom.     He  has  Christ.  , 

Such  a  one  is  insured.  He  is  ready  for  any- 
thing that  may  happen.  Nothing  can  harm  him. 
Ban  &  s  may  break  and  governments  may  be  over- 
turned. Famine  and  pestilence  may  rage  around  him,. 
Sickness  a*nd  sorrow  may  visit  his  own  fireside. — 
But  still  he  is  ready  for  all:  ready  for  health,  feady 
for  disease — ready  for  tears,  ready  for  joy — ready 
for  poverty  t  ready  for  plenty— ready  for  life,  ready 
for  death.     He  has  Christ.  He  is  a  pardoned  soul.. 

Blessed,  indeed,  is  he  whose  transgression  is  for- 
given,, and  whose  sin  is  covered.     Psalm  xxxii.  1". 

Reader,  how  will  you  escape  if  you  neglect  so 
great  salvation?  Why  should  you  not"  lay  hold 
on  it  at  once,  and  say,- Pardon  me,  evenme  also,  C* 
my  Saviour  !  "What  would  you  have,  if  the  way 
I  have  set  before  you  does  not  satisfy  you?' '  Come- 
while  the  door  is  open.  Ask,,  and-  you.  shall  re- 
ceive. 


